The Post

Planning for an educationa­l revolution

A school that opened in February in Taranaki is just the second of its kind in the world. Deena Coster talks to the couple who founded Green School New Zealand.

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Financial wealth gave Michael and Rachel Perrett choices, so they decided to build a school and begin changing the world.

The Taranaki couple, who amassed a fortune following the 2010 sale of the HRV ventilatio­n company they co-founded, built Green School New Zealand (GSNZ) on rolling farmland near Oakura, beneath Mt Taranaki.

The private school, which opened in February, is just the second of its kind in the world and promotes a hands-on education that connects students to the natural world.

It does not abandon the academic staples of reading, writing and arithmetic, but the learning is also holistic, taking into account the child’s physical and emotional states and is tailored to the specific needs and interests of the student as they grow.

It looks and sounds like the school of every child’s dreams. And it is. But that dream doesn’t come cheap.

The 2020 GSNZ fee schedule shows New Zealand students pay between $16,000 and $24,000 a year depending on whether they are at primary, intermedia­te or secondary level.

Those coming from Australia are faced with fees of between $21,000 and $31,000, while internatio­nal students pay $30,000 to $43,000.

To put that into perspectiv­e, the average cost for a child’s entire state education – from years 1 to 13 – is about $38,000.

The annual tuition fees for Kiwi students is on par with other private schools, like Scots College in Wellington or King’s College in Auckland, which have educationa­l traditions dating back more than 100 years.

The Green School in Taranaki is conspicuou­sly unencumber­ed by tradition.

A visit to its Koru Rd campus feels light years away from the muddy school fields and bland administra­tion blocks of New Zealand schools.

Classroom rows are replaced by space-age looking pods built from environmen­tally sustainabl­e materials.

There are no asphalt sports courts or artificial grass pitches, just hectares of lush, green farmland with hardly a fence in sight.

More buildings are planned at the Oakura site and the grounds are still taking shape. Its unfinished look gives it a sense of rustic charm.

But its simplicity belies the exclusivit­y of the school.

Not only are the fees prohibitiv­e, being part of it requires a parental devotion to the concept – a devotion that has seen a number of families move to Taranaki from locations around the world.

So far the roll includes just 55 students who share nine teachers between them. Even when combined with the students at the original Bali Green School, their involvemen­t puts them in a very small club.

The tiny footprint the Green School brand has on the world’s educationa­l map is what the Perretts are using their extensive business experience and resources to change.

Their overarchin­g goal, as part

Green School New Zealand

of their involvemen­t in the global body, is to have a Green School in every country in the world that is free to attend.

That’s still a long way off but builds in South Africa and Mexico are already in the pipeline.

Dressed casually but with obvious sophistica­tion, the Perretts are a close pairing.

They look to each other when answering questions, and pick up on one another’s conversati­onal points.

And while there are no overt displays of wealth (the coffee, when offered, is instant), Michael says financial independen­ce – secured by the sale of HRV and other investment­s since – gives them choices.

Their position isn’t the result of good luck and has more to do with pushing the boundaries in business, breaking down barriers and leading the way in terms of innovation, they say.

That corporate influence still slips through when Michael speaks. At times, he talks in slogans you’d expect to read in any business prospectus.

But there is no denying the Perretts’ passion for the Green School movement. They’ve gone all in and don’t keep their ambitions secret.

‘‘Our passion doesn’t just lie in New Zealand,’’ Rachel says before stepping through their global plans.

However, the Perretts know it’s important to succeed first and then spread their wings.

‘‘We’re here to prove the concept,’’ Michael says.

The commercial set-up of GSNZ, which has its own chief executive, is part of the recipe to make it work.

‘‘You can’t be green if you’re in the red,’’ he adds.

The need for students to pay to attend isn’t the model the Perretts want to see last forever.

‘‘We would love for it to be free,’’ Rachel says.

Michael thinks this will only be possible if they get more backing, including from the Ministry of Education (MOE).

In the meantime, GSNZ is developing a scholarshi­p scheme and have at least one organisati­on signed up to pay the fees of one student for their entire education.

Michael believes the Green School model is what other educators want to follow too. He takes the fact 400 people applied for nine teaching positions last year as proof of this.

The school’s curriculum has been created from scratch, the Perretts say, so it’s not a case of children turning up and doing what they want.

As a private school, it needs to be registered and take note of the country’s National Education and Learning Priorities but does not have to teach the New Zealand curriculum.

The school has provisiona­l registrati­on and before it gets full credential­s it will require a visit from the Education Review Office (ERO).

Katrina Casey, MOE deputy secretary sector enablement and support, says the Covid-19 pandemic hampered ERO’s visit to the school, so its provisiona­l registrati­on was extended until May 2021.

Outside the box

Sitting behind the business model and the bureaucrat­ic requiremen­ts to run it, inspiratio­n for the Perretts to choose to back the Green School concept comes from very close to home, in the form of their son William.

He was a ‘‘happy-go-lucky’’ child, his parents say. But the years he spent within a mainstream classroom of a ‘‘wellrespec­ted school’’ changed him.

As a parent-help Rachel says she watched William, who has dyslexia and ADHD, shrink away and lose all confidence.

At the low point the family got wind of the very first Green School, made out of bamboo and set in an Ubud forest in Bali – the brainchild of founders John and Cynthia Hardy. It seemed perfect for William.

After a short stint to try it out, the Perretts packed up and moved to Bali in July 2016, with William and their twin daughters Sophie and Samantha.

The transforma­tion in their son, now 15, was almost immediate, and Michael says something of a ‘‘miracle’’. After spending four years in mainstream education, it took just four weeks in Bali for him to start to open up and return to his normal self.

While their twins did not have any learning issues, Rachel says she noticed how mainstream education had ‘‘narrowed their minds’’ to fit into a system where children’s success was measured through testing or exams.

She says there is mentality of there being ‘‘safety in grades’’ but believes parents need to redefine what success looks like.

‘‘Don’t be scared of change, be open yourselves to listening to another way,’’ she says.

Michael wants every child to have a ‘‘joyous education’’ – a place where they ‘‘think outside the box’’, work together to solve problems, are engaged in the world and in tune with themselves, while being empowered to make change.

‘‘We looked everywhere and found it in a jungle in Bali.’’

Now that they’ve built their own version in Oakura, the Perretts want the Green School to become part of the wider community.

They want people to engage with what they are doing, so regular tours to the site are offered and events that enhance its philosophy are also hosted there.

After-school and holiday programmes could also be on the horizon.

Michael says the school will bring top talent to the region, not only in the people who work there but also the families of children who study there.

‘‘This place will attract very high-calibre people.’’

And the money will flow because of them too.

The Perretts say a yet-to-be finalised economic impact assessment report on their school has assessed it will bring in ‘‘tens of millions’’ each year, mainly benefiting the Taranaki region.

One aspect the Perretts didn’t factor into their first six months of operation was Covid-19.

But Michael says their experience of pivoting quickly in the corporate world meant they were able to adapt, even in the face of the school shutting its doors during lockdown.

No enrolments were lost, but some admissions have had to be postponed, mainly due to border restrictio­ns, Rachel says.

There are currently 55 students attending the school, 11 of which are non-paying (some of these are children of teachers who work there).

Of those, there is a 50/50 mix of domestic and internatio­nal students.

Included on the roll at the moment are children of several internatio­nal families who had been in the region to check the Green School out, before being trapped after the nationwide lockdown came into force on March 25.

Due to the ongoing measures restrictin­g travel, the families are still here, so the school let the children attend for the duration of their stay.

The Perretts say feedback from employers regarding students who have tracked through the Green School system, describe them as self-directed, involved, and when set a task, able to do it with confidence.

‘‘The Green School children who graduate will stand out,’’ Michael says.

‘‘Because they’ll stand up.’’

‘‘The Green School children who graduate will stand out. Because they’ll stand up.’’ Michael Perrett

 ??  ?? Forget rows of classrooms, Green School New Zealand’s learning happens in learning pods, built from organic materials.
Forget rows of classrooms, Green School New Zealand’s learning happens in learning pods, built from organic materials.
 ?? ANDY JACKSON/STUFF ?? Rachel and Michael Perrett, founders of Green School New Zealand, have big ambitions for the educationa­l model it employs.
ANDY JACKSON/STUFF Rachel and Michael Perrett, founders of Green School New Zealand, have big ambitions for the educationa­l model it employs.
 ?? SIMON O’CONNOR/STUFF ?? The pod classrooms are light and roomy and unlike any classroom you’ve ever seen.
SIMON O’CONNOR/STUFF The pod classrooms are light and roomy and unlike any classroom you’ve ever seen.

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